6.30.2006

and a little blurb at SPEEDGOAT.COM on their blog. (and note the picture on the front page!)

pretty disappointing to see the names getting named, to see how widespread it is and to see riders literally go from racing to retirement within days.

on the good side, though, it looks like at least to this point, the US riders are clean. look for the discovery team to be up there, landis, etc. should be a good show for the US crowd.

and for us mountain riders - should be interesting to see how cadel evans and rasumussen do this year.

so, with the tour coming up this weekend, i may be taking some time off from the blog for a little "r and r". when i get back, look out for some pics, some reviews and plans for nationals and the likes.

6.28.2006

with work. coupled with travel and riding, updating to the blog is when time is available -- so, posts will be done when i can.

so with june fast approaching it's end, next month's racing is in my headlights - as well as others.

most noteably, is 24 hour nationals. totally pumped up for this race which i hear is supposed to be hella fast due to the fact that there is very little technical and is on wide open trails. passing shouldn't be an issue.

but - there is a direct conflict with one of the ultramtb series races - the wilderness 101. all you folks that are serious in that series would be silly not to hit it up as most of the big guns who were there last year will probably be at nationals. but - i bet harlan price will be there and he is riding really well right now and has the lead in the series.

and for you guys who noticed my pic on the hammer gel flyers/promo's - that picture was taken at big bear in 2005 - by harlan himself.

so, wrapping up 4 days in columbus - training on the local yocal trails which are super tight, twisty, fast and fun. i always manage to crash at least once on these trails during a visit - yesterday was my crash day. nothing major.

today was pretty cool - nothing like a little bit of rain and thunder to make your last loop adrenaline pump a little faster.

6.25.2006

hey all - sorry for the lack of posts lately, been getting slammed at work lately as i have another client going live in a few weeks, right around the time i am taking a few days off for a little break. exciting stuff.

this company works with slate roofs - mostly dealing with churches, but they also work on residences as well. very cool stuff. these guys will actually sometimes drive out to a location just to take off tile - and they will pay you for it. there is even such a demand for it, that when old tile is taken off and it is in good shape, people will stockpile it and then these tile brokers come in and sell it for you. big business.

anyhoo, back to bike stuff.

lots o' wheels came back with me from my trip out to speedgoat this past saturday - got my king road wheels rebuilt with some sweet black spokes and mavic open pros, got my paul single speeds hubs rebuilt to my old blue anodized open pros (very kewl) and then the wheel i was dying to get built -- a surly flip flop.

yep, the karate monkey is going to go fixed as the new soma is going to be my new bad weather bike.

well, gots to run. timesheets to enter, emails to send... for most people, mondays actually start on monday... mine starts on sunday.

6.20.2006

i am beat down from the past two weekends, trying to actively recover.

so, this week - down in the columbus area. riding some of the local trails here and i am pretty surprised to see that either the local trail builders or IMBA has come in and done some really nice work on the trails in the past year or so. the trail is much better then what i remember of it last year.

lumberjack 100 - i see only about 60 people out of 180 finished the race. that heat was a major factor even though most of the course was in the shade. i will have to say, the course layout was ideal, location was really sweet. very well run overall, and defintely worth the trip. needless to say, i'll be back next year.

6.18.2006

race started on the road, and then made a sharp right into the parking lot entrance, which was way fun as you hit a sand road at 30mph. i was roughly the 10th one into the woods and chris was leading, with harlan price right on him.

pace was not that fast, but fast enough. within 40 minutes, my heart rate was screaming and i had to back it off. time to do my own race.

so, i did my own pace, keeping my spot for the next 60 miles or so. then, with the heat hitting in the 90's, the efforts at big bear and conyers set in. i felt like crud and had to stop what seemed like several hundred times.

my heart rate was screaming, at one time it jumped well over 220 beats.

i lost about 5 places (at least) on that last lap, a lap that seemed to last forever.

i came in at 15th place overall - chris e won, and harlan got second. great job guys.

back to back enduro races was something that i knew was going to be difficult - espeically when they were so both after conyers. why do this?

prep for 24 Hour Nationals.

all in all - it was a great race. nice small venue, lots of cool people around, and i got to catch up with some friends that i haven't seen in awhile.

and - gotz to check out the prototype trek with the prototype xtr that chris was running. that stuff is hella sweet - pretty funny moment came when i tried to work his shift levers and i couldn't figure them out. i have been running SRAM for so long, that i kind of forgot of shimano's new lever shifter thingy. i guess they are still working out the bugs, but chris said it works really well - and that middle ring that has carbon/titanium looks pretty cool.

so today, as you guessed it, is a recovery day. need my rest.

sorry for the lack of photo's and updates - no computer hookups anywhere and my phone decided not to work so i couldn't get audio updates out.

6.15.2006

heading out tomorrow, and it looks like it is going to be a pretty decent field. cycling news had the numbers up 70% compared to last year, with the total at around 170'ish, including chris e, steve s, myself, garth p, etc.

it's a little different format too - no out and back 100 miler. 4 laps of a 25 mile circuit - so, pits are and will be a factor.

so, look for some audio updates as the cabin i am staying in is going to be by my guess, very low on modern technology. which is cool as i need the break.

in addition, i'll be hanging out for an AM ride on sunday. i'll hit the trails early, so if anybody wants to head out with me for an easy to moderate ride, i'll be going out around 8:30'ish. if you bring coffee, this is your invite.

6.12.2006

here is a little bit of a different recap format - this time with pictures.

10am'ish - arrive at my pit tent to get ready. my entire posse is there waiting for me which included my entire family and dan the man. in the picture, i am talking with brett davis and steve schwarz about the upcoming race year, the course, etc.

11'ish - shot of pit row. we would be running down this later. race participation was up 15% this year compared to last. i think it has a lot to do with the course, venue, etc.

11:30'ish - shot of me trying to warm up. highs would hit the mid 60's and lows at night hit the high 30's. tempertures seem to hit us all pretty hard - with the exception of steve.

12:00:01 - the start of the race. i think i was hit by at least 5 flying elbows and pushed hard about a half dozen times.

12:01 - shot of the "new" race format. the start included a run, then followed by a mini-lap (on the bike) of the same area we ran.

12:01:10 - exiting the pit after the pre-lap, i hit my pedal right pedal off a rock at full speed. it didn't crash me, but it snapped the pedal off, leaving only the pedal spindle. i rode a few hundred yards to my pit and had to replace my pedal, which was not an easy feat to accomplish when my heart rate was screaming and the solo field was passing me by.

i got back on the bike, and proceeded to chase down all of the solo guys in front of me with the exception of rob. i was going hard, taking risks and ended up flatting about a mile out from the start/finish. i rode the flat in, logged my lap and rode to the pit tent to get a new bike.

my only two technicals happened on the first lap.

a few laps later, i catch rob and we ride together taking turns at the front, but i don't feel 100%. i can turn the pedals over, but i am not feeling like i have my power.

as the hours pass and with tempertures dropping, i hope my legs hold out. steve catches up to me just as rob dropped me.

i am feeling sick. my stomach is not feeling great and my legs are feeling heavy.

midnight - i pedal on, steve and rob are now riding together and i feel majorly sick. i water down my intake on my fuel and keep pedaling.

3am'ish - at this point, i am literally so tired i am falling asleep on the bike and start to fear that i am going to hurt myself if i continue riding. i don't want to stop, but i am bouncing off trees and loosing time. i've never really had fatigue hit me this bad - and i think i was paying my dues for my effort down in georgia a few weeks ago.

3:30'ish - my main light burns out, but thanks to my backup light, i have no issues getting in to my pit tent.

i wrap up in a sleeping bag and doze off for 1/2 hour. i later found out that most of the solo field had stopped too, but for a much longer time. this allowed me to get a few laps up on everybody.

noon - riding over the ramp for the last time with steve. steve finished 2nd to me last year at this event.

he has picked up some new sponsors for this year which includes titus and hammer gel.

also, the battle was tight for third and brett davis squeaked out rob lichtenwalner for third.

signing out with steve at a little past noon.

podium shot of the 2006 24 hour of big bear.

analyze time - lap times by our friends at granny gear. lap times were awesome until about the 9th lap, where you can see my lap times go increasingly up. that is when i started feeling sick.

the lap time you see around 2 1/2 hours was when i took a nap, and then i was in cruise control until the end of the race.

6.09.2006

looks like the weather is holding up - but it may be a slight chilly. like 44 degrees. reminds me of the year at snowshow where i thought i seeing bugs flying around me late at night and i thought it was too cold for bugs to be out.

big bear update - well, it looks like we are now up to 14 riders, so it looks like we have a pretty good sized field. i find it a little "easier" to ride when there is others around, so i am pumped up for that. and, the granny gear WV event is always what i have considered my "home" 24 hour course - i have always loved the courses down here.

pre-rode again this AM and it looks like we got a little rain last night - some slight mud in some sections, but nothing major. weather forecast has possible showers hitting today and hopefully holding off for tomorrow night. after solo worlds last year, if i get to race in at least 2 hours of it NOT raining, the event seemed heavenly.

granny gear has done some more work on the course, so look for some fast lap times. undoubtedly, it is going to be faster then last year. dryer conditions and great work on the course will add up to faster and more laps.

and here is a better shot of the "souped" up golf carts around here - you guys would dig these. a couple of "add on" features - blue running neon running lights (oh yes) and rain covers for the carts so you can drive around in the rain.

fun, fun.

with that, i am out. gotta rest up - recaps and pictures will be up as soon as i can, either later sunday or monday.

6.08.2006

word up from bruceton mills, west virginia - home of the 24 hours of west virginia - where there is plenty of beer and souped up golf carts with huge off road wheels and paint jobs that include flames. sweet.

course is dry and i am amazed at the amount of work granny gear has done. spots that were wet last year are now dry. pretty nice.

the course is the same as it was last year - no surprises. just a lot of hard work has made the trail almost 100% rideable.

ran into cameron - mr. current national 24 NORBA champ. this is going to be his first 24 hour of the year and he will be running a slim pit crew of only two people. he's been having some good results out west, so it is defintely going to be a fast weekend.

weather - starting to look interesting. looks like possible rain saturday night, and looks like the temps are going way down. like 44 degrees. what the heck?

13 solos as of today - stay tuned for more updates, etc. hope to have some pics up later tomorrow.

6.06.2006

6.05.2006

last weekend had me testing out the asylums in some dirt. we made some swap out of parts on the bikes and things are working good.

mohican was last weekend, part of the ultra series. results are not up yet, but the word around town was that skip brown of seven cycles showed up with a geared bike. that dude is hella fast on a single speed. it was the first in the 6 race series, 5 more to go. next race is the lumberjack, up in the michigan, weekend after next. looks to be a nice format - 4 laps of a 25 mile circuit. should be a good format - long enough lap so you won't get dizzy.

this week - i'll be hitting up another race. field is going to be a lot bigger then georgia and it is one of my favorite courses out there. should be a good time.

and - i'll have a massive pit crew, so live updates may be possible this time.

6.01.2006

sorry, not mucho going on these days - so this post is going to be somewhat random...

been riding the old 26 inch moots ybb lately as the asylums are at the shop - they will be back in my grubby hands this weekend where i'll try out some new parts. we swapped some parts from last year, now they are being replaced. don't ever want to take a chance.

but - that has give me a chance to hone in some new "home work" that was given to me by my coach via tom at wobblenaught. should be interesting to see the results. i'll go into it more in the upcoming weeks....

i see kelly bicycles are going out of business - they are selling off everything and had an ebay auction today for their last frame. winner got to pick his frame, color, etc. last i saw it, bids were at $3500. all i can say, from what i have seen of "collector" bikes being sold on ebay - the winner of the auction would be stupid to ever ride that thing. if fat chance box crown forks go for over $350 dollars 10 years later, i can't imagine what that frame would go for.... jeez....